Monday, May 04, 2009

Vest... and Kitty Surgery

First, the knitting. This is the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. I only have to do the right-hand back "strap" and knit around the neck and armholes, then it'll be done.



On the one hand, this has been an easy and enjoyable knit. I really like the way it's turning out, and I can't wait to wear it. On the other hand, the editing in this book is atrocious. I had heard that Fitted Knits was full of errors. I checked the errata, found two, thought that would cover it... but no, I found two more mistakes. Urgh.
And I'm not happy about it. See, I paid almost $23 for the book. Sure, mistakes happen, editors are only human like the rest of us. But why publish a poorly edited book that clearly needs more work? Some of these mistakes could have been caught with simple proofreading... no need to knit, just have to do basic arithmetic.

Because of these mistakes, the book is now being re-edited. Yay!
For the people who didn't buy the error-riddled edition, that is. And it's not like the publisher is going to maintain errata for people who already own a copy.
I am not going to blame the author for this. She maintains the errata on her website, and if she doesn't catch all the errors, well, it's not really her job.
The patterns are lovely. I own both Fitted Knits and Glam Knits. It's just sad that an otherwise great knitting experience turned frustrating because of careless editing.

The other thing that's sad? Morgana. As you can see, her left front leg has been shaved so they could put an IV in. A few weeks ago, my little kitty girl was making a rather clumsy descent from the window sill to the floor. She made an unscheduled stop on the fireplace, mouth first, and today, the veterinary dentist removed her broken tooth.


We have to medicate her three times a day, which she doesn't like one bit. Her brother is mean to her because she looks like his sister, but he just knows she's an evil impostor. This cat smells nothing like her. He hisses at the changeling and even swatted her in the head once, so now they're separated. It's going to be a long couple of days.

14 comments:

weezalana said...

Ugh, what a pain about the abundance of errata! But I'm sure your vest will turn out great!

Poor Morgana! Do you find yourself saying, "Don't make me separate you two..." ;)

Paige said...

Awww, poor kitty. She sure is pretty, though. Very irritating about the mistakes in Fitted Knits. That book is not new is it? How long is it taking to get them fixed for future copies (not that it helps you)? The vest looks nice though - i like the color!

Jo said...

Oh, poor Morgana!

Elspeth said...

very nice vest! That's really frustrating/too bad about the book. It seems like many patterns have errata, at least the book/online magazine published ones.

Thea said...

oh no. I hope both vest and kitty are doing well in a few more days....

turtlegirl76 said...

Poor Morgana! She's got a snaggletooth now and a mean brother! =(

IrishGirlieKnits said...

Poor Morgana! Give her extra kitty hugs for me!

Bezzie said...

I have that unedited version--I had no idea it was so buggy. Thanks for the tip!

Poor Morg!!! They say cats are graceful, but yeah mine aren't!

Rocky Moreno said...

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your kitty, at least she'll get better. I need to pick me up that Fitted Knits book, preferably an re-edited one, sounds frustrating!

Unknown said...

Wishing your kitty a quick recovery.

As for books w/errata, I'm annoyed at the Interweave at doing such a terrible job tech editing Cookie A's book. I know that she and all of us test/sample knitters worked really hard on making her patterns right and to see them botched up in her first edition is annoying.

Amanda said...

Poor sweet kitty! I hope she makes quick recovery and her brother gets over his sent problems.

Eileen said...

First, the vest looks wonderful, in spite of everything. And it's a great color for you.

Poor Morgana. She must be missing him, too. Of all things she needs comfort now. But having two sibling cats myself, one with, one without Supreme Intellect, I know where you're coming from! Hang in there.

sgeddes said...

I hope Morgana is feeling better!Poor little thing. Hopefully her brother is neing a little nicer now.

The vest looks great!

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

Aach, poor Morgana. If she didn't have that coat of fur on her face she'd look all bruised and battered. Kiss her on her head for me. Big brothers=a--hats, even if they're the younger brother.